Cabinet door control mechanism



April 1, 1951?,-

Filed Sept. 9. 1954 H. E. HUTzELMAN 2,828,505

CABINET DOOR CONTROL MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheec v1 i FA/ff@ ATTO 2 ,UE Y

April 1, 1958 H. E. -HUTZELMAN CABINET DooR CONTROL MECHANISM vFiled sept. 9. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 sin, z s

CABENET DGR CNTRL MECHANISM Howard E. Hutzelman, Corry, Pa., assignor to Corry- .lamestown Manufacturing Corporatiomrlorr, Pa.,

corporation of New `if'ork Application September 9, 1954, Serial No. 455,004

2 Claims. (Cl. 16-80) This invention relates to cabinet structures and more particularly to an improved mechanism by which the doors of such structures may be yieldingly urged intofullyopened or fully closed position.

The present invention is found to be well suited vforas bullet catches or springs, have been heretofore utilized 1 as means for holding a cabinet door in opened or closed v position, it is basically necessary to go beyond the mere hoiding of the door in a given position. That is, it has been found necessary to provide means by which the door, when moved one way or the other, past a half open position, will be urged into either fully opened or fully closed position. A mechanism of this nature elimif nates the possibility of an operator failing to fully open or close the door and subsequently banging against it in such an ajar position.

In its present form, the invention is applied to, and serves as the control mechanism for movement of, a door that serves to close a cabinet-like opening in one of the pedestals of a conventional two-pedestal desk.v The invention serves solely as a means for urging a door into opened or closed position and yieldingly holding the door in such position until the door has been manually moved. it is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a control mechanism for urging the door of a cabinet or the like selectively into opened or closed posi-- tion.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a mechanism that will urge a door into, and yieldingly hold it in, fully opened or closed position regardless of any jarring or vibration to which the door may be subjected. Another and important object of the invention lies in the provision of a door control mechanism that is so proportioned as to leave full, clear, and unobstructed access to the interior of the cabinet through the door opening.

A still further object of the invention lies in the provision of a simple and inexpensive control mechanism for the door of a cabinet and the like. A

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully disclosed and understood from a consideration of the followine specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings; in which Fig. l is an end View of a cabinet-like desk pedestal, partly in section, and discloses one application of use of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary front view, partly in section, of the control mechanism, being taken substantiaily as suggested by the line 2 2 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the mechanism, showing the position of the operative parts when the door is in closed position with the door sill omitted;

Fig. 4 is aview similar to Fig. 3, showing the position'y of the operative parts of the mechanism when holding the door in fully opened position; and

Fig. 5 is a further view similar to Fig. 3, showing the position of the operative parts of the mechanism when the door is intermediate its closed or opened position.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the ref-k erence numeral l0 is employed to generally designate a cabinet having a door, the operation of which is controlled In the presentv by a mechanism embodying the invention. application of the invention, the cabinet 10 takes the form of one of two end pedestals 11 of a conventional desk.

The pedestal, as presently shown, is supported on a basey 12 and includesva top 13,bottom 14, and side walls 16.

The top and bottom walls 13 and 14 are rolled down-v wardly and upwardly, respectively, as at 17, at their forward'ends. Similarly, side walls 16 are rolled inwardly. These rolled portions frame an opening 18 to the interior of the cabinet 10. The curved portions of the top and sidewalls terminate in inturned flanges 19. The curved` portion 17 of the bottom 14 is provided with a sill 21 which is ofimportance only to the extent of providing a suitable mounting location for the control mechanism of the invention, and may be varied as found necessary in mountingthe invention on cabinets of types other than. A door 22 is providedV as a closure for the opening 18 and this door is shown to be supported by conventional hinges 23, carried by thel v the one shown in the drawings.

tlange'19of one of the side walls 16 of the cabinet.

Attention is Vnow particularly directed to the door control:

mechanism. This mechanism includes a plate 24 that -is face Vof the sill 21.

of the operative parts, as will hereinafter be described.

A bracket 28, of generally triangular outline, is attached to the door 22`along its end ange 29, in any suitable manner, as by screws 31. The tapered or narrow, freev end 32 of the bracket 28 is downwardly oifset from the body of the bracket to a slight extent and serves not only to rigidify this bracket, but also provides a stepped end for convenience in connecting the linkage with the plate' 28. The end 32 provides connection with oneend of'a link 33 through a pivot pin 34. The otherl end of this link is downwardly offset, as at 36, and is connected with another link 37 through, a pivot pin 38. The @other endl of link- 371is joined through a pin 39-to oneend of -the plate 24, An opening 41 is provided in the plate 24 at a corner remote from the pin 39. This opening receives one end of a spring 42. The other end of this spring is engaged with a downwardly extending porton 43 of the pivot pin 38.

Having described the structural parts of the invention, a clearer understanding of its use and applicability is brieliy set out as follows: Referring particularly to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the door 22 occupies a position to close the opening 18 of the cabinet. In this position of the door, the bracket Z8 extends inwardly along one of the side walls 16 of the cabinet, link 33 being approximately parallel with the door 22, and link 37 at a wide angle to link 33. With the parts in this position, the spring 42 is under sufficient tension to apply a force to the pin 38 in a direction tending to straighten the links 33 and 37. Of course, force applied in this direction urges bracket 28 toward wall 16 and, consequently, holds the door 22 in fully closed position. Attention is now directed to Fig. 5 of the drawings rein the operative parts are shown as they appear when the door has been only partially swung to open position. With the door in this position, it will be noted Patented Apr. l, 1958;.

was released, it would quickly swing back into closed position as shown in Figp3. Continued movement of the door toward opened position brings the straight edge wardly stepped portion terminating in and providing a of bracket 2S into alignment with the` link 33 and also with spring 42. In this position, the operative parts of the mechanism may be said to be on dead-center. In other words, the door, when moved slightly past the position of Fig. 5, will have no urgency to mover-into either opened or closed position. However, since the door, when the mechanism is on dead-center, is insuiiiciently open to give access to the interior of the cabinet, an operator would never leave it in this position but would continue manual movement of it in one direction or the other,

Assuming the door vto be moving toward opened position from that shown in Fig` 5, attention is now directed to Fig.i4. As the door is swung further open, the links 33 and 37 further jack-knife to move the bracket and link 33 beyond the dead center mentioned above. When this point has been passed, the spring now again urges the pivot 38 toward the side of the cabinet. Thus link 37 again swings toward the cabinet side wall and moves link 33 outwardly of the cabinet to a point where the stop or shoulder 44 abuts an edge of the central portion 27 of the plate 20L.V When this occurs, the door 22 will occupy a position ninety degrees to the line of the opening of the cabinet.

From the foregoing it will be evident that whether the door is in opened or closed position, the spring 42 continually exerts a force at the pivotal connection of the links 33 and 37 in a direction to hold the door fully opened or fully closed. It will, of course, be understood that the proportions of the plate 24 and bracket 2S, as well as the length and steps of the links, may be varied in adapting the mechanism to the control of a door other than the one shown, and it will therefore be understood that any such variations in the structure are contemplated as being within the spirit and scope of the invention insofar as they are encompassed by the annexed claims.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim as new and for which l desire protection by Letters Patent is:

' l. In a cabinet having a door hinged to one of the Walls forming the cabinet opening, n mechanism for urging said door into opened or closed position comprising a plate iixed to said cabinet beneath said opening, a bracket attached to said door adjacent the lower portion of the hinged edge thereof and movable into said cabinet through said opening when said door is closed, a downfree end on said bracket, a link pivotally joined at one end to the free end of said bracket, a downwardly stepped portion on the other end of said link, a second link having one end pivotally joined to the stepped portion of the first link, the stepped portions of said bracket and said first mentioned link enabling pivotally connecting said second link with said plate from beneath and abutment of the stepped portion of the first link with the plate during opening of lthe door to limit the extent of opening o the door, said links and said bracket being of such related length as to cause said links and the free end of said bracket to lie within said cabinet ,in all positions of said door between its closed position and a predetermined opened position, and a spring engaged under tension with said plate and the pivotal connection between the links, said spring exerting a continuous force on said second link whereby to urge the first link and said bracket into either of two relative positions.

2. In a cabinet having a door hinged to one of the walls forming the cabinet opening, a mechanism forselectively urging said door into opened or closed position comprising aplate fixed to said cabinet adjacent the door opening, abracket having an end attached to said door adjacent the hinged edge thereof, a pair of strap-like links, a pivot pin joining said links, one of said links being pivotally joined to the other or free end of the bracket and the other link being pivotally joined to the plate, said links and said bracket being of such related length as to cause said links and the free end of said bracket to lie within said cabinet in all positions of said door as it moves from closed position to a predetermined open position, a spring having one end engaged with said pin and the other end With said plate at a point remote from the pivotal joining of one of said links with Said plate, the link connected to the bracket being approximately parallel to the door at its closed position and movable into alignment with the bracket when the door is opened and the other link being approximately parallel to the bracket when the doorV is closed, said spring being eiiective to extend or constrict said links when said bracket and its connected link are moved out of alignment in either direction.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 

